Here’s another Scratch test batch designed to delight our customers. Due to a minor flaw in a brewing program, we lost some of the mash when it was transferred to the brew kettle. A quick-thinking brewer modified the hop-load and created our first-ever single hopped beer. Bronze in color with a dry finish, the lead flavor is intense grapefruit and a fruity backbone derived from Simcoe hops. Please enjoy our mistake, and rest assured the modifications have been completed so it doesn’t happen again.

T - Like the aroma, the flavor is extremely well-balanced in that the hops are easily apparent but backed by a sweet biscuity malt character. Finishes with citrusy hop bitterness paired with a grainy malt sweetness.

The hoppiness registers initially, soft and slowly buidling to a rich citrus bitterness at the end of the sip. Pale biscuitiness runs throughout the ale, bready with a mild sweetness.

M - Light to medium bodied with a fairly crisp effervescence and mild syrupy texture. Alcohol warmth doesn't weigh in too much at all. Finishes with moderate bitterness on the palate.

D - Definitely one of the better IPAs Troegs has produced in its Scratch Beer series thus far. I was really pleased with this one and will have more when I visit again in a few days.

More User Reviews:

A: The ale is quite pale, a lighter yellow amber color. Translucent as a result. The ale comes with a large head, white and fluffy, that laces all along the inside of the glass.

S: Graininess matches the hops pound for pound, balance becoming the hallmark. The light biscuit does well against the simcoe, although the citrusy bitterness does come through.

T: The hoppiness registers initially, soft and slowly buidling to a rich citrus bitterness at the end of the sip. Pale biscuitiness runs throughout the ale, bready with a mild sweetness. The ale doesn't feel as strong at 6 and a half percent - that's a good thing.

M: Chewy with a soft hoppiness, the ale stresses subtle balance over the in-your-face hoppiness of #55. I may need to grab a growler tomorrow...

A - Pours pale golden yellow with a nice one and a half finger tall white head leaving large streaks of lace down the entire glass. A very nice looking beer.

S - Smells of lightly toasted bready malt, a good amount of sticky Simcoe hops, some very faint citric fruit, and some fresh cut pine needles. The hops and grain seem to be in a never ending battle for who will control the nose of this one.

T - Starts off with a nice dose of citric Simcoe hops quickly giving way to the strong, slightly sweet, buiscuity malt. Hints of pine resin and light caramel malt sweetness try and creep in but this one is all hops and malt. Even with such strong flavors it remains fairly well balanced. The finish is pretty chewy with some lingering dryness/bitterness from the hops.

M - Medium body and flavor with moderate carbonation. Chewy, slightly bitter, feel that clings to the pallet long after consumption. I don't hate the feel but the over the top chewiness that develops over the course of the glass really dampens the intended hoppiness.

O - Not too bad. I drank this one right beside a regular pale ale and you can definitely taste the differences. I would argue that this is how their pale ale should always taste, but either way another solid offering from the scratch series.

On tap in the tasting room. Served in a large hourglass shaped vessel that is almost like a weizen glass, but not quite. It pours a clear golden copper with 2 fingers of frothy white head that maintain pretty solid but slowly fade with a webbing pattern of lace all over the glass.

The smell is strongly herbal with hops coming across catty and dank that is very much expected from the simcoe. A light touch of alcohol comes across almost fruity but it gets dominated by the scent of the simcoe. Little to no grainy feel to this aroma but what does come forward admit warms is lightly bready.

The taste is bitter and rindy with hints of herbal and catty to dank quality. Lightly zesty and spicy with a grassy touch across the back end that mixes with a fresh grainy to biscuit malt inclusion that provides no sweetness. Overall this had a solid feel to it. I enjoyed the flavors without the bitterness an too much pissy cat quality from the simcoe comin through.

This is a medium bodied brew with a light level of carbonation. Surprisingly crisp and easy drinking. The abv was well integrated in this and the usage of simcoe was very well executed. I hope this is the first of more single hop varieties that they produce.

A - Served with a clear, golden-orange body and two fingers worth of white, fluffy head..the head shows very nice retention and leaves attractive lacing

S - The nose was rather light, but what I could was fresh hops...bitter yet clean...bready malt lingering in the background

T - First sip brings the Simcoe out...there is an initial "green" flavor that you would find in a fresh hop beer...after that fades away the malt bill kicks in...it's strong in the middle and really gives a toasted and bready character to the beer...the bitterness of the hops comes back at the end to finish the beer

M - Medium bodied...bitter and dry, clean and crisp

O - I'm excited to see what hop Troegs will be using next as I hope they continue with the single hop beers...a nice Pale Ale with lingering bitterness and a toasted balance

I was served this beer in a pub glass at the tasting room in Hershey by jecker, thanks Josh. The first thing I would say is this is an IPA, it is hoppy enough and strong enough without the malt body of an APA no matter what the intended recipe was.

The color is golden with a moderate haze and thick cream cap. The bead is tight and thick waves of lace cling. The smell is unmistakably simcoe from first whifff on - the mild citrus and dankness is there with a slight tangy odor from the yeast with slight sulfur and gentle piney accent with plenty of herbal aromatics going on. The IPA is of medium body with semi dry texture and moderately high bitterness w/ medium cabonation and slight spiciness with a lot of rsesinous feel with tangy astringent yeast elements and mild sweet in the back with subtle acidity and dry maltiness as it finishes.

The tastee is sweet up front with a tinge of the toasty pils malt and leads to a slight musty quality when combined with the yeast. There is a piney vegetal impact from the simcoe here with a spiced hop flavor that tastes moderately lemony in combination with the other elements. There is a hint of astringency with citrus rind and dank herbal hop providing the dominant flavor with light toast and sugar in the background but oily hoop resins are coating the mouth with a tea like astringent aspect and pepper into the tangy not quite catty flavor which has a sweet herbal flavor that is pleasant but a bit one dimensional at times. The mild caramel backing adds a n almost biscuit flavor in the finish.

Overall I really enjoyed this IPA, single hop simcoe is a good choice and is solid in this pale with a hopping of an IPA the flavor lasts long after the beer has been consumed with a nice malt backing - this is such a fresh lively drinkable beer, you should really get a pint of this, one of the best of the last few which have all been pretty kickass really. I like the aromatic quality the simcoe imparts. I thinii it is an excellent choice for a single hop beer whether it was planned or not.

Appearance is pale yellow tone with two fingers of white head. Its` nose has some malts, citrus, as well as caramel. Taking a sip of what is one my first from the Scratch series and I taste hops, Simcoe, some pine and more of those malts. A fairly sweet beer. Mouthfeel is medium, very small amount of bitterness in the finish. This offering from Troegs is good, a very good beer to pair with some casual pub grub.

Pale clear golden straw with a large, fluffy white head and nice lacing. Grainy malt and simcoe hops are nicely balanced in the aroma. Biscuit malt body support a moderate simcoe and orange bitter hop finish. Lighter side of medium body with medium carbonation and a dry finish. Not too much else to say about this, pleasantly drinkable.

O - According to the bartendress, this started as their Pale Ale recipe except for the use of single Simcoe. Lots of flavor and bitterness but a bit one dimensional. I preferred the Scratch 55 DIPA, which was also released in the last 24 hours.